1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to slides for endless belt conveyors and wear pads for use on slides for endless belt conveyors.
2. Discussion of the Prior Art
Slides, which have been referred to as idlers have been used for some time to support conveyor belts. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 6,854,593 issued to Boudreau et al on Feb. 15, 2005, discloses a slide referred to therein as a pad-type idler, for slidably supporting a continuous conveyor belt. The pad-type idlers are supported on a metal support above a base. When conveying a liquid-containing substance, e.g. in the food processing industry, liquid falls onto the slides where it accumulates. The presence of a liquid between the belt and the slides results in drag (skin friction drag) between the belt and the slides which causes the belt to slow down or stop.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,799,780 issued to Steeb et al (hereinafter Steeb) on Sep. 1, 1998, discloses a slide, referred to therein as a wear bar, for slidably supporting a continuous conveyor belt. The first embodiment of Steeb is a feed idler assembly, which includes a generally U-shaped frame defined by a base, a pair of legs on opposite ends of the base and a pair of shorter intermediate supports between the legs. Plates are attached to the top ends of the legs of the intermediate supports. Wear bars are attached to the tops of the plates. A conveyor belt sliding over the wear bars forms a trough which is useful for conveying materials in the manufacturing and mining industries.
The fixed wear bars of Steeb are intended to replace rotatable idler rollers. The Steeb patent discloses two different types of wear bars, namely those used for a feed idler assembly (see FIGS. 8a to 8c in particular) and one for a return idler assembly (see FIGS. 11a to 11c). The feed idler wear bar has a flat top surface and tapered side surfaces. The return idler is a flat plate. The Steeb return idlers cause the edges of the conveyor belt to wear, because the belt has a slightly bowed profile upon its return and accordingly contacts the edges of the return idlers.